Finally, Pride may be getting a personal life again.

Ever since he got divorced from now ex-wife Linda early in NCIS: New Orleans Season 2, Pride has been, as Percy aptly put it, married to his work. Hell, he lives upstairs from the NCIS office.

But now, there's possibly a ray of hope for Pride on NCIS: New Orleans Season 3 Episode 16.

That ray is in the form of Rita Devereaux, an old flame of Pride's from about 25 years ago. Their marriages didn't work out, and of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into Pride's.

Of course, she walked in because she wanted his help. More on the case later.

But I think there was a more than a little of her that wanted to see Pride again. And it turned out that Pride knew she was back in town, but had given her space, allowing her to make the first move, like the gentleman he is.

I feel Rita, a Reserve JAG lawyer and ADA, is a good match for Pride. They spent a good portion of the episode arguing philosophical points as only two ex-lovers could.

But in the end, she yields to his folksy wisdom earned from years of experience, and they're singing "I Had to Be You" together, and all is forgiven.

I enjoyed how the kids (the rest of the team) argued about Dad (Pride) having a woman stay over. And oddly, Gregorio, the woman who knows him least, ended up being right in the end.

At least I think she was right, about Pride and Rita rekindling what was.

It was good to see Gregorio promoting some kind of life for Pride outside the office. After all, he's done quite a bit for her this season, as she's settled back into New Orleans and become a more well-rounded, dare I say likeable character.

I think there's a place for Rita, at the very least as a recurring character. She could be Pride's love interest. But she's also a damn good lawyer, and with the squad's shall we say unorthodox tactics, they could use a lawyer on call. I mean, every time Patton rolls in, he's breaking some kind of cyber law, usually with Pride's blessing.

Now let's look at the case of the week.

First off, I like the trek out to gator country. While I love the color and pageantry of New Orleans, it's good to remind viewers that Louisiana has many other types of attractions.

Like gators, God's evidence-destroying specialists.

Yet somehow, both Noah's body, less than 24 hours old, and Lewis's body, missing three months, somehow made it onto Loretta's table, somewhat intact.

Once again, trouble found Sebastian. Out searching for missing bullets, he managed to stumble across Lewis's body. With the ominous buildup, I feared a poacher, or a gator, was going to get him, but at least he dodged that bullet. Also, no bad hand-to-hand combat this week, always a plus for Sebastian.

I still prefer Sebastian as the forensics geek with sometimes wild theories, sort of like Hodgins on Bones, only with less social skills. But I guess this field agent experiment is going to continue at least a while longer. Along with Sebastian's well-earned self-doubt.

I liked the interesting twist that Noah was killed, not because of one of the many sensitive cases he handled for JAG, but because of the volunteer work he did at the military academy for troubled youths.

The "Lords of Discipline"-twinged plot was fairly transparent. It couldn't be the well-meaning if oblivious commander or the order-following rank and file. So that left Dorsey, the second in command. As often is the case in TV, never trust middle management.

I'm still not sure what the point was of having Gregorio shoot Cabral's gun out of his hands. That didn't actually quell anything. Percy and LaSalle talking their way out of restraints and rushing in to arrest Dorsey did.

And why is it that all the good snipers in NCIS (except Gibbs) are female? Less testosterone, more patience?

 Next week, it's double NCIS: New Orleans. That includes, in the second episode, the return of the scummy ex-husband who caused Gregorio to switch teams.

With only a handful of episodes left (four?) after that, I'm wondering when they're gong to get back to indicting Mayor Hamilton? Or is that the storyline that will carry over into next season?

To catch up on the two new agents, Gregorio and Sebastian, watch NCIS: New Orleans online.

How did you like Rita, and would you like her to stick around? How soon did you pick out the villain in the case of the week? What do you want to see covered in the last few episodes? Comment below.

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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.